1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a method of chemically peeling fruits or vegetables.
Fruits or vegetables not only are served as raw foods but also are processed into preserved foods such canned foods, bottled foods and frozen foods. In preparing these processed foods, a peeling treatment is often indispensable.
2. Description of Prior Arts
As the conventional peeling method adopted in the processed food-making industry, there can be mentioned, for example, (1) a so-called hot water-peeling method in which fruit skins are damaged and removed by hot water or steam, (2) a hot alkali peeling method in which fruits or vegetables are immersed in a hot alkali solution, (3) a hot acid peeling method in which fruits or vegetables are immersed in a hot acid solution, (4) a method using an acid and an alkali in combination, (5) an enzymatic peeling method using an enzyme and (6) a mechanical peeling method. Among these methods, the method (1) is suitable for peeling white peaches, and the method (2) is used for peeling yellow peaches, apples and the like. The methods (4) and (6) are used for peeling oranges and apples, respectively. The methods (3) and (5) are not practically used.
The method (1) is troublesome because the degree of ripeness of fruit should be uniform and hence, this method is not suitable for mass production. The methods (2) and (3) are advantageous in that the treatment can be completed in a shorter time than in the method (1) and mass production is possible according to these methods. These methods (2) and (3), however, are defective in that because of the strong action of the treatment chemical used, skin roughness, breakage of flesh and reduction of the yield due to excessive peeling and discoloration of flesh are often caused. In the method (4) the degree of damage of flesh is lower than in the methods (2) and (3), but since hydrochloric acid is used, corrosion of the treatment equipment cannot be avoided. Further, hydrochloric acid should be neutralized in the treatment of the waste water and a large amount of a neutralizing agent should be used. Still further, since the waste water possesses inferior properties of agglomeration or precipitation when a treating chemical is added, a high BOD load is imposed on the biochemical treatment, and the waste water treatment becomes expensive. The method (5) involves practical problems because the treatment should be conducted for a long time, and in some cases, not only the skin but also the flesh portion is treated causing skin roughness and breakage of flesh. The method (6) is poor in practical utility and very expensive, and the loss is very large in this method.
In addition, certain kinds of surface active agents are used for peeling fruits and vegetables. More specifically, there have been attempted a method in which sodium alkyl benzenesulfonate is added to an aqueous solution of an alkali having a high concentration (for example, 10% or higher) and a method in which polyoxyethylene alkyl ether or polyoxyethylene alkyl aryl ether is used for the above-mentioned treatment using an acid and an alkali in combination. Also in these methods, there are similarly observed such defects as degradation of the quality, reduction of the operation efficiency and decrease of the yield, and the problems involved in the conventional peeling methods are not solved by the use of surface active agents.